Glasgow Airport saw its first decline in annual passenger numbers last year, it has been revealed.

Airport bosses say the 1.1 per cent fall to 8.72 million was partly a result of the terrorist attack last summer but also a decline in package holidays.

By contrast, Edinburgh, which is more reliant on scheduled flights rather than holiday airlines, saw a five per cent increase to nine million passengers.

Aberdeen, which is benefiting from the current oil and gas boom, saw an even bigger percentage rise of 7.9 per cent to 3.4 million.

Operations at Glasgow were briefly affected by last year's attack although the airport was running normally again two days later.

"Glasgow has enjoyed steady growth over the last ten years with traffic increasing by 60 per cent," said a spokesman for BAA which runs it.

He said there was nothing to suggest the attack had had a permanent impact on people flying out of the airport.

"More likely the fall in numbers is because the increase in air passenger duty and rising inflation has had an effect on the industry. People have less to spend on holidays," he said.

He said the trend would likely continue for six months because the charter industry, which uses Glasgow more than Edinburgh, was in the process of consolidating.

Baa said Amsterdam was again crowned the most popular destination for Scots in a record year for air travel.

The Dutch capital - popular for city breaks and as a hub for long haul connections - attracted 537,000 departing passengers from the three airports.

Dublin, again served from all three airports, was a popular second choice, attracting more than 344,000 departing passengers. The Spanish resorts of Palma, Alicante and Malaga completed the top five.

The top five most popular countries remained unchanged from the previous year, with Spain once again proving itself a firm favourite with Scots. Almost 1.3 million people flew there. The Netherlands, Ireland, the US and France complete the top five.

Turkey was a new entrant, taking ninth place, while Greece took the last spot and Canada fell out of the top ten.

Overall, passenger numbers reached a record 21.2 million, up 2.8 per cent on the previous year. International traffic rose by almost 8 per cent in the year as dozens of new services were added to Scotland's rapidly expanding international route network.

Long haul carriers also did well, with a record 1.1 million flying to and from Scotland, up 4.3 per cent from 2006.

New York, served daily from Edinburgh and Glasgow, was the most popular long haul destination, followed by Dubai.

Over the course of the year, 45 new services were introduced at BAA Scotland's airports. A further 30 new services are due to take off in 2008.

New services have been supported by BAA Scotland's route development fund, which has so far invested £95 million across the three airports.

Baa Scotland's Donald Morrison said: "With 40 new international destinations in the past year, and dozens more coming in 2008, the New Year looks set to offer travellers more destinations from Scotland than ever."